I finally found the perfect beverage to wash down Chinese food.

[grasswire]

Icy icy cold ginger ale with a grating of fresh ginger on top.

I put the bottle in the freezer in the afternoon. By suppertime it's slushy-frozen.

Soooooo good.

[oneshooter]

1. Too much sugar, unsweetend ice tea, thank you. n/t

[grasswire]

9. Schweppes is pretty dry ginger ale.

Plus the fresh ginger grated on to it -- the bite is what I taste.

[Warpy]

3. Everybody knows it's BEER

but since I can't drink, these days it's just unsweetened tea.

Sweet stuff is weird with Chinese food, IMO.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. Constant Comment tea, very hot

it has a touch of orange

[grasswire]

10. I am sentimental about Constant Comment -- my grandmother's favorite

But I do prefer jasmine tea.

[Major Nikon]

5. I make my own ginger ale

Using freshly ground ginger makes all the difference in the world.

[eridani]

7. Recipe?

Sounds really fantastic. I think I'd like this as a cold drink with Chinese food; tea will do for a hot drink.

[Major Nikon]

14. Here's the recipe

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/ginger_ale_ag0.htm

This will make a very strong ginger ale depending on how fresh your ginger is, so you may want to scale back the ginger the first time you make it if your ginger is very fresh. If you don't like the ground ginger in the bottle, you can just steep it in hot water for a couple of hours, then strain it. That's what I do.

I don't use yeast anymore because I have a CO2 bottle for carbonation, but if you use regular bakers yeast it will leave a fairly strong yeast taste (which isn't a bad thing really). However, you can use ale yeast from the homebrewers store and it won't have so much of a strong taste.

You can also make homemade root beer and any other type of soda you can find flavorings using these methods.

[eridani]

15. Thanks. Do you just keep the extract and bubble CO2 in as needed? n/t

[Major Nikon]

16. Usually I just make 2 liters at a time and it doesn't last long enough to need recarbonation

As soon as my kids find the bottle in the fridge, it doesn't last long.

I use 2 liter bottles and cap them with a nipple cap that attaches to my CO2 hose. I squeeze out the air and charge them with CO2 from my 10 lb bottle. If you don't have a cheap source to buy the bottle and regulator like I did, a setup like that will cost you around $100. After the initial expense, recharging the bottle is pretty cheap. You can also carbonate home brew the same way.

Getting CO2 from yeast fermentation works great. The result will be slightly alcoholic, but the alcohol content is extremely low and can be given to kids just fine. They wouldn't be able to drink enough to get drunk. This method has the advantage of automatically making more carbonation. If you leave the bottle half empty in the fridge, after a week or so it will be just like a fresh bottle and will repressurize itself.

[Neoma]

6. How about water? Think about the salt content...

[Phentex]

13. That's always my choice...

I like carbonation with pizza and I don't know why. With Chinese food, it's always water and the hot tea that comes with.

[eppur_se_muova]

8. DG brand Jamaican style ginger beer !

You can skip the fresh ginger, it's got plenty of bite already. (It's actually best served cool, not ice-cold.)

I first tried this at an Indochinese restaurant -- they served spicy meals from all over.

[Denninmi]

11. Ginger Ale is a feast I can stand in the least.

To paraphrase the Grinch.

I have a real aversion to it, which is ironic since Vernor's is such a big deal here in Detroit. We're all supposed to worship this "home town" beverage.

Alas, I have a strong aversion to ginger ale, to the point the smell of it makes me nauseous. Every time I was sick as a kid, which was often due to various health issues, out came the Vernor's.

Ginger per se doesn't bother me a bit, I use it all the time. Pour a ginger ale around me, and I run for cover.

[Arkansas Granny]

12. I think we all pick up "triggers" for certain foods, smells, sounds etc.

For me, there are a couple of songs that were played incessantly on the radio when I was pregnant with my first and was suffering from some 24/7 morning sickness. To this day, I can hear the intro to those songs and my stomach will lurch.

[yellerpup]

17. That sounds really good.

I'd certainly give it a go!